Elon Musk is in Desperate Need of a Vacation

The stress of running a business can bring anybody to their wit's end. These days it is hard to find a better example of this than Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. In the last few months, Musk has made some decisions and statements that make his investors lose sleep at night. These range from starting a feud with a British rescue diver to stating that his company will go private. In an interview, Musk detailed just how much of a toll running the company has taken on his life. This shows the ambitious silicon valley CEO should take a long overdue vacation.

Musk relies heavily on Twitter to make announcements and communicate with his investors and fanbase. However, this platform has recently been the source of many scandals for the CEO and his company. A number of these tweets has negatively affected both Musk's image and his company's stock value.

When a group of young boys and a teacher became stranded in an underground cave with flooding water, Musk offered to help by developing an inflatable submarine in the hopes of evacuating the children safely. During an interview, British rescue diver Vernon Unsworth said Musk could shove his submarine where it doesn't fit. Musk responded by claiming in a tweet that the rescue diver was a pedophile. Unsworth threatened to sue Musk but never died. Everyone thought the drama was over until Musk fanned the flames by tweeting that it is suspicious that the Unsworth never sued.

You don’t think it’s strange he hasn’t sued me? He was offered free legal services. And you call yourself @yoda …

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 28, 2018

Another incident involved a tweet by Musk announcing that Tesla would leave the stock market and become a private company. The statement itself made the company’s stock go into a volatile ebb and flow. In the end, Musk stated that the company would stay public believing it would be for the best. When the entire ordeal ended, Tesla's stock took a plunge, investors became livid, and the company received a subpoena from the Security and Exchange Commision(SEC).

Am considering taking Tesla private at $420. Funding secured.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 7, 2018

In an interview with the New York Times, Musk stated how the stress of running the company had affected his personal life. He recounted how he spends long hours working, not seeing family and friends, and even spending his birthday at a Tesla factory. Following the interview, Tesla’s stock took another drop.

Musk has built a cult of personality around him due to his past success and ambitions not just for his companies but for the future of the world. This image has been tarnished due to his impulsive tweets. The impulsiveness of Musk’s tweets along with his admitted exhaustion has left people questioning his judgment and leadership.

The sometimes erratic behavior of the Silicon Valley entrepreneur is due to a combination of overwork, tight production deadlines, and short-sellers preaching that Tesla will underperform and fail to meet deadlines. What Musk needs right now is to take a step back and take a month long vacation. If he continues the way he’s going, he will end up building up more stress and in turn making more rash decisions. Even the best of us deserve a break.